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Tag: Business Analysis

Business Analysis in the Digital Age

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

For the last two decades, we have been staring at massive shifts in our economy. Business models that were stable for decades or centuries are at the brim of the transformation or the failure due to the digital transformation happening in the industry. This presents a large scope for business analytics training courses. Since organisations around the world have started shifting focus from the process automation to integrating new digital technologies to the business model, the relevance of BA is greater than ever before.
The Transformation to the Digital Age
What is the digital transformation? Every organisation is trying to find a definition in their own context. All these contexts can be summarized to three fundamental ones they are:

  • Customer Experience – Using technology to enhance the customer experience.
  • Operational Process – Improving the overall operation of the organisation using technology and reducing the cost.
  • Business Models – A new business model relying on technology to deliver new forms of value.

However, in all these cases technology is the common factor which drives the tide of transformation. With these changing circumstances, organisations are compelled to rethink and go creative with their business models.
How Digital Era Affects the Traditional Business Analysis
If we analyse the history of the industry, we can see that each era has presented their own tools to the business world. The industrial age presented tools like standardization, process-oriented assembly line and repeat ability. The progress made with these innovations was tremendous. For the traditional business analysis, most of these industrial age thinking is being used. The business analysts try to stick with the prescribed journeys to achieve process and efficiency. The digital era brought change to all these.
The Digital Era brings a significant increase in self-service, ubiquitous connectivity and focuses on the overall customer experience. It is the complete opposite of the traditional seller-oriented oriented business. This era places the customer at the centre, potentially with extreme customization of products, process and services. Rather than a general product, discrete experiences and emotions have become more prominent in the business.
The new hurdle for the Business Analysis is to obtain ways to connect all these disparate steps together in a way that produces what the customer wants without sacrificing the profitability of the organisation. To support this various channels of interactions are available for the business analysts. The digital tools have obtained prominent roles in interactions in the Digital Era. The integration of Social media and mobile applications to customer services have enhanced the customer experience along with the interaction channels.
The Future…
In the current state, strategic and effective business analysis is becoming a critical corporate ability. The traditional project-oriented business analysis will soon be a thing from the past. The business analysts will be required to adopt a business-oriented approach in the near future. The skill sets like process involvement, product management and lean product development will become necessary skills for an ideal business analyst. As a career opportunity, business analytics is going to be even stronger and profitable in the digital era.

The Startup Wave Gets a New Accelerator : OceanPro by Maersk

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Ahoy! There’s a new sailor on board! The Indian startup revolution is just about to witness a sea of change. For years now, startups have struggled with finding the right mentors for when they need an expert opinion on the challenges they face on a day to day basis, finding investors during the seed stages, funding, regulations and even public outreach. Thus, startup accelerators that provide all this under one cohort program are indispensable for business analysis.
Maersk, the Danish shipping giant, has recently launched its very own startup accelerator, called ‘OceanPro’ and is inviting applications from startups for the same. Anyone can apply, including individuals as well as business analysts.
The Juggernaut

Maersk, a multinational company founded and headquartered in Denmark, is the market leader in the shipping, supply chain and logistics industry. It operates in over 130 countries and employs a workforce of  roughly around 76,000 people. Currently, Maersk.com is one of the world’s largest B2B transaction sites, with roughly an average hourly revenue of 1.3 million US Dollars.
The company seeks to simplify its customers’ supply chains and to ship around the world, using the power of business analysis.
OceanPro in a nutshell
Maersk has launched its startup accelerator programme, OceanPro, to accelerate technology in India.
Maersk Group CEO Soren Skou said recently during his visit to the Bangalore center that they recognize India’s potential and talent in the digital space and that they are looking to reinvent the wheel with the logistics industry, leveraging on this wide pool of talent.
The programme, mainly in the silicon city and startup hub, Bengaluru, seeks to collaborate with startups with the aim of simplifying supply chain. It’s a 120-day programme, taking place in the co-location space of Maersk’s digital centre in Bengaluru.  With OceanPro, startups looking to connect with the shipping, supply chain and logistics industry’s who’s who can do so easily, as well have real customer interaction, while leveraging on the talent and insights provided by Maersk. The icing on the cake : Maersk may provide funding to companies they deem fit. This is  also one of its kind opportunity for business analysts to sharpen their business analysis skills in a precocious setup.
Essentials and features of OceanPro
One of the aims of setting up OceanPro is to bring about changes in the logistics industry, by incorporating the latest technologies of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), Advanced Text analytics, FinTech and augmented and virtual reality, for the benefit of the industry, making it smarter, intelligent and more efficient. Today, with AI and FinTech revolutionizing every industry and the way we operate, it becomes important the logistics industry too realizes this to step up and be an even player.
So far, the shipping giant has invited eight startups to join and participate in the interactive programme, viz., Dhruv, KrypC, LinkedDots, La Vela Pictures, Unido Labs, zasti, Inatrix and MintM. The company also aims to form partnerships with universities, venture capitalists, investors and other accelerators. Also, Maersk has a sponsorship program for two Master of Technology fellows, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, for developing leading business analysis solutions. This is a golden opportunity for business analysts to take their career to the next level.
The program is aimed at leveraging the power of business analysis, to introduce agility into the supply chain ecosystem by making it more responsive and mining out hidden insights that are useful.
Startups that are interested and are a good fit can apply soon as the invitation to apply is open, if you can commit for four months, are willing to adapt and customize and receptive to learning.

What are the Skills Required For Business Analyst?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

A business analyst’s combination of tools and techniques cover getting business intelligence solutions starting from aligning and cleaning the data, using the smartest cutting-edge technology to deliver actionable insights, and support the decision-making process of a business as a whole. A business analyst is the one person who is involved in almost all business intelligence processes like Data mining, analysis, making forecasts, report preparation and more.

Role Of Business Analyst

Business Analysts/ BA functional role involves data investigation of both external and internal clients and using research of data to make inferences, prepare project reports, and recommend business decisions. The BA is required more to make operational and management decisions which are data-based. Though investment-related their decisions, forecasts etc are on the business models, workflow, technical systems involved, work processes and inter-department connections related to overall efficiency, employee productivity etc. They in short spot trends that influence the operational and management decisions.

Education Required:

There are no prescribed educational minimum criteria fixed. The business analyst certification curriculum itself is conducive to a bare minimum of graduation with subjects like business management, statistics, economics, finance and mathematics being necessary for the job role. However, truth be told, today it is all about data and no field is free from using their data for furthering growth, efficiency and using the latest technology. Classroom learning will be needed to effectively bolster your skills and applying them to practical situations in different verticals.

Non-Technical Business Analyst Skills

  • Great problem-solving skills and quantitative skills.
  • Good presentation skills and grasp on the use of inferential logic and an innovative approach.
  • Above average reporting and data skills.
  • Great communicative ability and interpersonal skills.
  • Collaborative and communicative team skills.
  • Business acumen.

Technical Business Analyst Skills

A BA specialization course is often pursued from a reliable institute like Imarticus to hone skills in data analytics with the aim of improving business outcomes. They learn a gamut of topics like business fundamentals, finance, accounting, marketing, strategy, business forecasting, specialized applications, optimization, and statistical applications. They also learn ML where they focus on applications to business problems, developing forecasting business-outcome statistical-models, analytical methodologies and tools and more. The business analyst certification coursework is technically sophisticated and a mix of management, fundamentals, marketing, and technical programming skills.

Must-have Business Analyst Skills

  • Business Acumen:
    Without business acumen, it is practically impossible to gain domain-specific knowledge to understand the industry and organization and work on the data to contribute effectively. The BA input is used through the life cycle of business intelligence and needs sound specific business knowledge, the impact of any strategy implementation, and a tactical day-to-day understanding of the business.

 

  • Conceptual Thinking, Data Analysis and Modelling
    The business analyst’s grasp on diving deep into data, extrapolating valuable insights for the business, assisting in business strategy implementation etc is possible through the ability to understand data, the use of data analysis and modeling, and the understanding of the flow of organizational data which is effectively used for decision-making purposes by the management.

 

  • BI and Analytical Programs knowledge of software:
    The BA will find exceptional knowledge in Microsoft Office and specifically in Excel an added advantage. For data modelling, you will need Visio and SharePoint when building customized input lists. Traditionally the use of MS Asses was popular though not really important today. SQL fluency and knowledge of querying languages are highly preferred.
    An essential capacity to understand, analyze, and draw inferences from data which includes its formatting, data-flow, structure, and making intangible insights into tangible foresight is essential to working in the analytical space. Commercial off-the-shelf analytics software applications like Tableau, Qlik etc will also be required.

 

  • Visualizing the larger picture using an inquisitive and detail-oriented mindset:
    Ironically, a BA needs a very well-developed skill set, the ability to always see beyond the data on record, and have great discipline and patience to understand the subtle details of the finest data grain. Understanding the matrices of KPIs of the various processes with the maturity to understand business strategy, the key steps in the processes, and detailed data elements and concepts is essential in this role.

 

  • Emotional IQ and exceptional communication:
    The BA has to be concise and clear in reporting and communication, an excellent active listener with the ability to present and translate technical deep concepts and terminology effectively. His communication deals with stakeholders, team members, organizational hierarchy and others as well.
    A BA needs the ability to maturely deal with face-to-face interactions, unite siloed teams, and use data effectively as arguments to arrive and have others infer common business solutions. The BA should be flexible to navigate office politics while focusing on departments aligning with business objectives.

 

  • Documentation Skills, Stake-Holder Management, Maturity, and Self-discipline: It is part of other essential skills which deepen with experience. Analytical, Negotiating, and Problem Solving skills can be acquired through business analyst certification training and educational programs. Keep in mind, that financial analysis is a small part of the BA’s job if you work in a financial firm. On the other hand, if your company is into e-commerce, software, data warehousing, health, cloud services etc such overlapping of roles is minimal.

 

Requisite Skills for Business Analyst Profile

A mix of technical and non-technical skills is called for in the role. Technical skills acquired through a business analyst certification are

  • The CS fundamentals
  • Programming in R and Python
  •  Being adept with
    1. The platform of Apache Spark.
    2. NoSQL/Hadoop.
    3. SQL Coding of its Databases.
    4. Data visualization techniques.
    5. Handling of unstructured data.
    6. Proficiency in ML algorithms and AI.

Proficiency in Pig, Hive, cloud tools, neural networks etc for situations involving the transfer of data, storage, sampling, summarization, filtration and exploration of data allows you to stand out from the rest.

Job Scope and payouts:

The normal analyst salary in a larger company is between 53,000 to 69,000$. You also earn commissions that are equal to the payout according to the 2017 Robert Half Accounting and Finance Salary Guide.

On a concluding note, doing a business analyst certification at Imarticus learning like the IIBA-endorsed program helps you to gain in-depth exposure to Business-Analysis, techniques, frameworks and best practices as prescribed by the latest BABOK 3.0. As a matter of ample caution, it is always advisable to research the roles you are aspiring for, the technical skills required, whether you need to acquire any skills, what would be the prospects, job scope, payouts and all the fine print that comes with a career change. Patience and perseverance will definitely bear fruit.

Also Read: Rethinking Role of Business Analyst

The Business Analyst Career Path

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

There is a lot of ambiguity in understanding the true role of a business analyst. And even if one has a broad understanding of the role, they will find several viewpoints on how the career progression should be for a business analyst. The business analyst career path is difficult to define, mainly because of the diverse skill sets that can be adapted into many sets of opportunities. A business analyst has many options based on the industry, qualifications, preferences, and acquired skill sets.

To have a better starting point in understanding the career options of a business analyst, let us first broadly define and cognize the responsibility of a business analyst. There are many hats donned by a business analyst. Leaving aside the academics and technical requirements if one has to practically and simplistically put across, a business analyst is a role which bridges the gap between every department, across the life cycle of the development process. They work closely with people within an organisation to understand steps and hurdles, technical or non-technical, translate and document the same for business requirements, provide solutions to the right channels and implement it, with an overall objective to strategically improving operational efficiency and optimizing organisation performance.

A Business analyst can be also coined as management analyst, working across all kinds of businesses. Their job functions could vary depending upon the position, but the overall definition would be the same.

Career Path Of Business Analyst

A career path of a business analyst usually begins with working at an entry level, and gradually with experience and with acquiring a better understanding of how businesses function, growing up the ladder. Maybe settle into a role of a senior business analyst where they might have a team of professionals involved in planning and developing a Business Process Design or working in other complicated and strategic functions.

The good news is that the business analyst career path is very diverse, so based on your interest and qualification one can choose the most suitable path. Some option

  • Operations Manager, keeping the fundamentals of the role of a business analyst in place, one can branch out as an operations manager. Here one is responsible for analysing the business need, current products, services, standard operating procedures, and recommend either technical or non-technical solution for overall function improvement.
  • Product Owner, if you are a business analyst professional with an IT background and working for an IT set up, then you can explore the option of a product owner or product manager while existing on the business analytics path.
  • Management Consultant, as a business analytics one can start their career as a Jr. Consultant and further rise up the ladder as a Management Consultant.
  • Project Manager, although becoming a project manager might require a different set of skills, it is considered as a logical and popular move. Here one will be responsible for managing budgets, along with time frames and stakeholder expectation. Known as a fulfilling choice by most business analyst who have opted for this change, it is soon turning out be the most conventional direction for most business analysts.
  • Business Competency Manager, Relationship Manager, Subject Matter Expert, Business Architect, Program Manager, and in some cases Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer, are some other career options that an individual, with sound experience in business analysis, can pursue.

So with so many interesting, promising and rewarding options available for Business Analysts, they need to first get a firm hold about the basics of business analysis. Account the skill sets and academics that they bring to the table, and only after understanding all the options, find a good match to their requirements, and then set out to achieve their specific career goals.

We, at Imarticus Learning, offer business analyst course which helps to make you industry ready. Do go through our website and let us know how we may help you.

Key Questions in Business Analysis in 2017

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Business Analysis deals with identifying problems and the need for change in an organization and providing solutions to the problem and facilitating change. Business Analysts identify the needs of a business and provide solutions that will deliver maximum value to stakeholders. Business analysts work across all levels of an organization and may be involved in everything from defining strategy, to creating the enterprise architecture, to taking a leadership role by defining the goals and requirements for programs and projects or supporting continuous improvement in its technology and processes.
But as businesses get more complicated, questions surrounding Business Analysis also change and get more dynamic. Here are some of the top questions and trends in Business Analysis and business analysis courses and workshops in 2017.
What is Distributed Leadership and is effective? As leadership gets more distributed and the one decision-maker model crumbles, Business Analysis will have to create models that take into consideration more than one variable
How will better Design and technology affect Business Analysis? Apps are making a huge difference in business Analysis. How does that impact model making and problem definition?
Is there value in certification?  We believe there is value in Business Analysis courses and the rise in MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) reflect the interest project managers have in improving business analysis skills and problem-solving models
How does creativity and entrepreneurship affect Business Analysis? Business Analysis certifications focus on frameworks. What is the role of creative entrepreneurship in that?
How will Agile training change as a business move towards teamwork rather than focusing on the individual? And how do we make teams react to organizational change better?
Find out the answers to all these questions by enrolling in BACP, the leading Business Analyst Course in Mumbai. Click here for more information.